Battleland

Panetta’s Challenge

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CIA chief Leon Panetta goes before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday like one of those guys on the old Ed Sullivan show trying to keep all those plates spinning atop wooden poles, running from one to another to keep them from falling to the floor and smashing to bits.

These are his goals:

— Don’t veer markedly from anything Defense Secretary Robert Gates, heading home from his final round-the-world tour, has said. Panetta’s 76-page list of written answers to written questions from the committee was perfect — it didn’t make any news. He agrees, as the AP reported, with a “responsible drawdown” of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Stop the presses!

— Speaking of Afghanistan, acknowledge the problems there. But he also knows that a recent poll shows an uptick in public support for the mission there. Despite the killing of Osama bin Laden, the American people seem to be willing to cut the President a little more slack — especially if Obama begins pulling U.S. troops out next month, as he has said he will do.

— As former head of the Office of Management and Budget — and chairman of the House Budget Committee — Panetta will likely concede that meeting Obama’s target of $400 billion in new security-spending cuts over the next 12 years is going to require Congress to sign up to a slimmed-down list of missions for the U.S. military. He may gently suggest that committee members get out their globes and figure out what chunks the U.S. military can safely turn over to allies.

Bottom line, for Panetta and the Pentagon: no news is good news from Thursday’s hearing. It’s expected to lead to Panetta’s swift confirmation by the full Senate and his move into Gates’ E-ring office early next month.